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January 21, 2013

What to Do When Clients Think Twice; Making Small Caps Work for You: February Investment Advisor—Slideshow

What’s happening in your clients’ minds when they can’t commit to a plan that you both know they need? In the February issue of Investment Advisor, Olivia Mellan uncovers just that. Mellan talks to researchers and thought leaders in the brain behavior field to find out what happens to your clients’ brains when they make decisions—or try to.

We also talk to Mark Travis of Intrepid Capital about how the notoriously volatile small-cap space can pay off without undertaking an undue amount of risk. Fixed income helps a little, but never underestimate the value of experience and understanding.

How often have you put together a great financial plan focused on your client’s wishes, your client thanks you and takes it home, but then never gets around to implementing it? It’s not laziness and understanding the science behind your client’s brain and how decisions are made can help you get clients moving.

Olivia Mellan, with contributions from Sherry Christie, talk to authorities at the crossroads of neuroscience and psychology to share their views of what goes on in the brain when people make up their minds.

Don’t let the easy-going, good ol’ boy charm fool you. When not in the office, you’ll find Mark Travis competitive skeet shooting or surfing waves off the Northeast-Florida coast. The Jacksonville-based money manager went to the University of Georgia, and loves SEC football and Tim Tebow (can this guy get anymore cliché?).

However, raise the topic of investment management, particularly the small-cap space, and the “aw shucks” attitude quickly fades. His command of the sector makes him deadly serious. He has to be, after all; to outperform in notoriously volatile small caps takes some doing. The fact that he focuses on fixed income tempers that volatility somewhat—but only somewhat. Editor-in-Chief John Sullivan sits down with Travis to talk about reducing volatility in this notoriously volatile space.